


One over All

by Cantatrice18



Category: Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
Genre: Difficult Decisions, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-22
Updated: 2013-11-22
Packaged: 2018-01-02 08:36:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1054725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cantatrice18/pseuds/Cantatrice18
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Helga Sinclair must choose between following the orders of Commander Rourke and the commands of her own conscience.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One over All

One by one they went, as Milo called their names, reminding them of their humanity and compassion. Mole, Cookie, even Packard went to stand by the awkward young man in a show of solidarity. Finally, there was only one person left to address. She’d been waiting for it, wondering whether he would bother and dreading what he might say. She tried to sink down into the driver’s seat of the jeep to avoid his gaze, but there was only so much she could do. He knew she was there, everyone did.

“…Lieutenant?” Milo called softly, hesitantly. She was not his friend, she knew, not like the others. She heard the trepidation in his voice; he was scared of her, intimidated by either her sensuality or her imperious demeanor, she did not know which. But still he called her. He wanted her with him, with the group he’d assembled. Chancing a look back, her eyes caught Milo’s and stayed there.

 

He knew it was a risk, asking her. She was dangerous, powerful, commanding – everything he was not. But he respected her for her ability to keep a cool head in times of danger, for her quick mind and her skill as a leader. Now, though, he could see the indecision in her eyes. She was army trained, used to following the orders of a superior officer; under normal circumstances he was certain she would have been the very first to stamp out a mutiny. But these were not normal circumstances, and following orders meant the downfall of a civilization thousands of years old. Her head jerked suddenly to look at Rourke, and though he could not hear the words Milo could tell that the Commander had reasserted authority over the young woman. She sank back into the jeep, her eyes staring straight ahead. When Rourke’s order came she was the first jeep to cross the bridge, and she did so without another glance back.

 

“Lieutenant Sinclair, don’t listen to him. Stay with me.”

There was a pleading note in his voice even as he ordered her, and looking at him made her realize just how impossible her situation was. Rourke was the man she’d tried so hard to keep in her life for all these years. She couldn’t bear to let him go alone, not when a myriad of dangers awaited the band of mercenaries just outside the borders of Atlantis. Even the thought of the destruction that awaited the peaceful Atlanteans could not tear her away from the man who had a hold on her heart. She would miss him too much if he were gone. Disgusted with her own selfishness, she turned away from Rourke and looked towards the bridge. She would follow orders, as she always had. This mission was no different than any other.


End file.
